Fic: Fixing Things (Clex, NC-17) (5/5)

[seagull2eagle.livejournal.com]

Fixing Things

Link to Part One or AO3.

Part Five of Five

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They drove to the plant in Lex's rented car. Clark couldn't help remembering what they'd done in the back seat the last time they'd both been in this car. The memories were overlaid with the more recent tender sex they'd just had.

Love. Clark couldn't quite believe it. He also wasn't sure if it was smart.

Lex had a point regarding trust, and Clark didn't know yet if he did, or could, trust Lex. Lex, whom he loved, yet was frightened of at the same time. Clark had spent too many years with the fear to let it go that easily. He wanted to, he really did; he just didn't know if he could, or should.

Clark glanced over at Lex while Lex drove, and his heart melted. He wanted to have sex with Lex again. He wanted to talk to him, to laugh with him, the way they used to. He'd thought his friendship had been destroyed all those years ago yet somehow, miraculously, it was here again.

Clark had grown up since the last time he'd seen Lex. He was only now realizing how young he had been. Teenagers never think of themselves as young.

While Clark had already recognized some of the mistakes he'd made back then, he'd somehow thought his relationship with Lex had been set in stone; the ending locking out all of the before, pain and betrayal the final note. Their whole friendship had been a lie, and that's where it was and forever would be.

Clark knew better now, and he was ashamed he'd believed that before. Lex had also been young, and now that Clark had lived through that age himself and was four years beyond it, he realized that Lex hadn't been as grown-up and assured as Clark had thought.

This Lex had also grown more, and was harder and colder, yet somehow Clark could see the young Lex too. Clark wanted Lex again. Their friendship. The sex. More. At the same time, Clark didn't want to break them again, to feel that pain, to cause that pain. This time, he would have to actually do something to make it work.

The obvious sticking point now was Lex's experiments with kryptonite, which scared Clark to death. Lex's reasoning had been logical, but Clark would have to think about it. Understand it. Believe it, and not just in a blind trust way. He would have to do that later, though, when Lex wasn't around, because Clark had a hard time thinking with Lex sitting there.

The parking lots at the plant were mercifully empty. Lex circled around each end to make sure, then parked the car near the factory assembly area. He glanced at Clark, "Can you confirm?"

It was weird to work with somebody who knew what he could do. After Clark was done being startled, he obediently x-rayed the building.

"Nobody in there that I can see. I can't see into Level 3."

Lex nodded, accepting both the x-ray and the limitations completely matter-of-fact. He slid out of the car and checked his pockets for the taser gun and some other equipment Clark wasn't sure about.

Clark was wearing the lead-lined vest that Lex had modified for him. It was an unfamiliar weight, the lead having an effect somewhat like weight if not literal poundage for him. It didn't hinder him, however, and he could still use all his powers.

More importantly, Lex had an extra one and was wearing it. If Lex hadn't had the second vest, with the bullet-proof properties, Clark didn’t think he could have accepted the modified one. But Lex did, and he'd put it on, along with his dark thick pants, and the pocketed jacket, looking less and less like the familiar Lex as every item went on, yet making Clark's mouth go dryer with every piece until he'd been quivering at the end ready to tear Lex out of it and fuck him right there. Even in the unsexiest clothes, Lex was pure walking and breathing sex.

He was also pragmatic. He'd indulged Clark's need for sex that morning, but after dressing he was all business and impatient at Clark's constant distraction.

With a small laugh at himself, Clark acknowledged his current distraction and turned back to the building. Meteor-enhanced HVAC systems. He shook his head at the utter mundanity of it. Yet, as Lex had also pointed out, people had experimented for years combining kryptonite with equally as normal things, with mixed results.

For a moment, Clark let himself consider it. Kryptonite-powered cars, kryptonite refrigerators, kryptonite-fertilized redwood trees, stretching up to the heavens. No, too common, too hard to shield and protect. The kryptonite power plants, on the other hand, were a real likelihood, considering the nuclear plants already in existence. And who could say they would be more dangerous than nuclear power? If a kryptonite plant exploded, there would be deaths. If a nuclear plant did, there would be even more. Clark was invulnerable to nuclear threats but not to kryptonite, and therein lay the real difference for the shivers down his spine. Or was it that kryptonite would have more of a subtly harmful effect than nuclear? They didn't know. They just didn't know, and without knowing, none could say. Which is why experiments were needed. Maybe.

"Clark?"

Shaking himself, Clark hurried to catch up with Lex. His mind had been spinning in circles ever since Lex had explained it. Clark really would have to fly around the world a few times before he came to any sort of conclusion. This wasn't something he could accept, or even deny, with a few minutes thought.

They made their way cautiously into the building, Lex accepting Clark's x-ray analysis, yet not relying completely upon it.

The door to the secret elevator slid smoothly open now that they knew where it was. Lex aimed a gadget at the hole in the wall.

"No recent heat traces," he finally pronounced.

Clark thought Lex sounded disappointed. But then, if nobody was there, there wouldn't be anybody to catch mid-crime. Maybe they could have sex in the lab instead.

As he realized his thoughts, Clark blushed scarlet. Lex glanced at him inquiringly, then rolled his eyes. "I swear, Leo, you're still a teenager."

Clark blinked three times at the use of his other name, and then recognized both where they were and the need for caution. Lex had every corner covered, even the ones they couldn't see.

"I thought we were going to be exploring the rest of the plant for another lab?" Clark finally pulled himself back to focus on the problem at the moment.

"I don't think there is one," Lex said. "Or if there is, it's not here at the plant. We need a clue to where it is before we start exploring other areas. Let's finish getting all the information from this one while we have the opportunity." Stepping inside the elevator, Lex motioned him to follow and they went down.

Inside, it was much like the day before. There were no signs that anybody else had been there in the meantime, and no clues as to where the kryptonite was being processed.

The layout of the interior room was similar to the processing room upstairs, with the chemical hoods, the laboratory tables, the processing machines. There was also a metal catwalk around the outer edge with periodic stairs going up to it, where computer stations and monitoring equipment overlooked the chemical lab. Prudent to have those slightly raised in case of a chemical spill. Clark checked out the nearby eyewash stations and the fire sprinkler system overhead. Then he looked closer at the floor and walls and frowned.

"What?" Lex turned from where he was poking at a chemical hood.

How had Lex even seen that Clark was frowning? Clark shrugged it off. "There's no drainage in the floor in case of chemical spills. No vents on the walls either."

"Drainage has to go somewhere, usually to secondary containment centers, which need access points elsewhere. And vents are easier done when a lab isn't buried underground. Either all that was too much extra work for a secret lab, or they reconverted this lab from something else into the refrigerant mixing set-up." Lex walked a foot over and nudged a metal bar inset into the floor with no apparent purpose. "I'm betting on the reconverted, though I wouldn't put it past my dad to also be stingy on the safety portion of secret labs."

Clark nodded; it made sense. He continued poking through boxes, trying to stay away from the residual kryptonite in the mixing stations. The converted lead vest definitely helped, though, and he could get closer than normal. Clark would have to have a serious look at those costume plans Lex had emailed.

Despite the extra protection, Clark still winced when he passed one chemical hood. "Lex," he called, and within a moment, Lex was there, his concern palpable.

"I'm okay," Clark reassured Lex, though he appreciated the touch to his arm as Lex reassured himself. "There's some meteor rock in that cabinet. Or refined kryptonite, or something."

Lex gave him one amused glance at reverting again to the older name of 'meteor rock', and then he positioned himself by the hood. "Go to the other side."

Clark obediently retreated, though he stayed within dashing distance if Lex needed him. He wasn't terribly happy about Lex's own exposure to the kryptonite, but knew it would be pointless to object. Somebody had to check it out.

Lex put on a pair of rubber gloves he found hanging off the side of the cabinet and a pair of protective goggles, then opened the hood. Several large beakers of liquids were in there, along with other boxes presumably of powdered chemicals. Lex sorted through them. Finally he pulled out one that glowed green. Clark backed a few more feet away.

"Is that it?"

"It's kryptonite," Lex said, frowning as he swirled the liquid around. "Mixed with something else, if I don't miss my guess. Straight kryptonite doesn't usually have this viscosity at room temperature."

"Usually?"

Lex snorted, putting the beaker back and closing the hood. "You know what it's like. For every hard and fast rule, there's an exception."

Clark had to admit that one, which was all the more reason to be leaving kryptonite alone. He took a cautious step forward. "You're leaving it there?"

Stripping off the gloves and goggles, Lex put them back where they'd been. "It's not enough for them to be using regularly. Looks like something left over from an experiment. I'm curious about it, but it's not what we need right now." He moved on. "I'll come back for it later to figure out what they've done to it."

And there again, Clark couldn't help the shiver of fear, both for and of Lex as he spoke so casually about the liquid kryptonite. Lex would take the beaker, would drive it back to... to wherever Lex did his research. With his people who knew the risks and did the research anyhow. Was what they would find out from it worth the risk? How many people in this town had already been changed by it?

Would Clark ever stop feeling guilty for his planet's remains? Not as long as they kept turning people into things other than human, he suspected. Or at least he hoped he wouldn't ever stop. It wasn't right, and just because Clark had been a baby, it was still his planet and his people, and pieces of his former world. Just because he wasn't the one to do it didn't mean he shouldn't take responsibility for cleaning it up now. The people who had made the mess were all long dead, and Clark was the only one left. Along with their powers, he'd also inherited the responsibilities for their mistakes.

He watched the closed hood and ached for what he could not change.

They searched more, but found nothing else of real interest. Two hours later, they were reduced to looking through computer files in the systems up on the catwalk above the lab equipment. Lex seemed satisfied with the information he was getting, but Clark was now the one who was restless and prowling on the outskirts of the catwalk.

Clark did plenty of online research and computer calculations both as a journalist and also when he was investigating things as Superman, but when they had come to the lab, he'd been geared up for direct action. Clark was also uneasy about how long they'd been in there and how absorbed Lex seemed to be with the computer files. Just because there was nobody in there with them now didn't mean—

There was a faint grinding sound on the other side of the lab and Clark turned. He wasn't in a position to see the elevator, so he moved towards Lex and a clearer view. Just as he saw Lex, still intent on the computer files, he heard the sound of a gunshot.

Sound didn't really travel as fast as most people thought it did. Sound: 340 meters per second. Bullet: 320 meters per second. By the time most people would have heard the sound of a gun, it would be too late to do anything about it. If it was a high velocity rifle rather than a normal .22, sometimes the bullet would be faster even than the sound.

Clark's super-hearing allowed him to hear things faster than the speed of sound, in the way that all his Kryptonian powers broke normal Earth physics. First, though, he had to be using his super-hearing.

Clark didn't know if he'd heard the gunshot normally or with his powers.

Time seemed to stand still as he shifted into the fastest possible speed for him. He didn't even try and track the bullet, not wanting to waste the time. He only really cared about one thing.

There. There was Lex. Starting to turn, starting to duck, to throw himself out of a possible bullet trajectory. Which meant that Lex had heard it too, and Clark hadn't heard it by super-hearing. The window of opportunity narrowed and Clark prayed the gun was a .22.

Lex's reflexes had been honed to a fine level. He moved, however, at a human speed and Clark's heart beat painfully as he watched the minuscule movements, a centimeter at a time. Slow, so slow. And Clark was still so far away, though getting closer.

He could see the bullet now, it was so close to Lex. Lex's motions had taken him out of the original path, but that just meant that a bullet that would have originally hit on his bullet-proof vest, would instead take him on the upper part of the shoulder, below the collarbone. There were a lot of blood vessels there, and arteries that could quickly bleed out. It wasn't a safe place to be shot, no matter what they showed on television.

Clark felt like he could feel every air molecule he hit along the way, he was increasing his speed so much. Almost there. Almost...

Clark crashed into Lex, sending them both to the wire catwalk floor as time resumed a normal path.

For one awful moment, Lex was still beneath Clark, and Clark started to panic but then Lex shoved at him, "Out of the way."

Raising up to a crouch, Clark visually reassured himself that Lex was okay even as Lex was squirming to cautiously peer around the catwalk. There was a slight metallic ping, and Clark looked down to see the flattened bullet bouncing off the rails. He breathed a sigh of relief, but knew it wasn't over yet.

"You are an interfering busy-body, Lex Luthor." Tim Matthew's voice was harsher and nastier than when he was helping the plant workers do their jobs. Another bullet fired over their heads, more of a warning shot than actually aimed.

"That's my job," Lex called back. "Is this yours?"

Tim laughed. "Your father approves."

Lex shook his head then poked his head up. Clark reached over, ready to pull him back down if needed. Lex glanced at Clark, then grinned at him and refocused on Tim. "My father sent me. You've gotten too noticeable." Lex looked again at Clark and frowned. Under his breath, he muttered, "And dangerous." He reached into his pocket and pulled out the non-taser gun. "If you're to continue, Tim, it has to be in another location and under supervision."

"Hey!" Clark let out a little cry of instant rejection, rebelling against the idea of letting a murderer go free.

Lex shot Clark a glare even as Tim laughed.

"Your boy-toy is upset, Lex. Didn't you fill him in on your plans ahead of time? Or does he just not want to share?"

Another shot forced Lex to duck down again, even as he continued glaring at Clark. In a whisper, he hissed furiously, "Do you want this to turn into a blood-bath?"

Clark winced and put his head up to see what Tim was doing. The other man was walking calmly from the elevator towards them, detouring around some of the equipment. The gun was held casually in his hand and he didn't look even remotely upset at the prospect of shooting them. Lex didn't really want to recruit Tim, did he? That was just a negotiation tactic to keep them from being killed. Right? Inside of him, though, Clark kept remembering all the other scientists that Lex had worked with. Hamilton, Walden... Though to be fair, they hadn't been murderous until they'd encountered kryptonite and the caves. But so had Tim.

Very quietly, Lex sighed. "I do recruit scientists, but not once they've started killing. Once they've started down that path for greed, there's no easy way back." Lex huffed a small laugh. "Just like your distrust. It's ingrained in you now. I don't think there's any way you can ever really trust me again."

"Lex, no! I'm sorry, I did—" Clark's protest was interrupted by another gunshot that he just barely dodged, his attention having been rather thoroughly taken off Tim. There was the sound of glass cracking as the bullet hit something behind him.

Lex edged over to the metal stairs, his own gun out and his attention once more on Tim. "If you keep shooting, the equipment is going to get damaged. It can be expensive to replace."

Tim laughed. "You have a point." He holstered his gun as he continued to walk towards them.

Both Lex and Clark frowned, trading a suspicious glance between them, not trusting the sudden appearance of peace. Tim didn't look like he wanted to make peace. He was still advancing menacingly, and now...

Clark blinked. From Tim's mouth, there was a swirl of green.

"Oh, fuck," Lex hissed. "That's the mutation... no wonder—" Lex cut himself off and tackled Clark, forcing him down, clamping a hand over Clark's mouth.

"Don't breathe," Lex ordered. "Hold your breath. Don't breathe."

In reflex, Clark almost took a breath but obeyed Lex instead. He could feel a general weakness coming over him and a low-level pain. Not like being exposed directly to kryptonite rock, but a muted version of it. He reached his arms up to hold Lex, touching Lex's mouth to order him not to breathe either.

With a slight rueful smile, Lex shook his head. "Couldn't for long enough. You have to hold longer." As the green gas swirled around them, Lex's eyes started to droop, but his hand over Clark's mouth was solid. "Kryptonite gas. Plus whatever else..." Lex's voice slurred and his body wavered.

Clark held onto Lex tighter, but his grip was for naught as Lex blinked and forced his eyelids open again, but then closed, his body slumping over Clark's, his hand sliding off Clark's mouth.

It was instinct to call out Lex's name, to hold him, to see if he was okay. It was the hardest thing ever to quash that instinct and let Lex fall and not call out his name. Inside, Clark was screaming.

Outside, he was fighting with himself not to breathe, to obey Lex, to give them both a chance. Not breathing was hard. Underwater, it was easy, with the pressure all around him and a reminder of what would happen if he opened his mouth. Here, there was nothing to remind him, and he wanted to scream for Lex, to talk to him, to pick him up and rush out of there and get Lex to safety, but he couldn't.

There was kryptonite gas all around him and while it was more muted than the rocks, it was also right there, against his skin, pressing in upon him, weakening him at the time he had to stay strong. Holding his breath had never been something he'd considered one of his powers, but at this point it was the most important one.

He wasn't sure if he could even pick up Lex right now, let alone get them to the elevator. Clark knew he didn’t have the strength to tunnel out of the underground lab, especially not while protecting Lex.

Please, Clark thought as fiercely as if he was screaming, please live. He could see Lex still breathing, head upon Clark's chest, but the rest of Lex was so limp, so devoid of what made Lex the incredible vital person he was. What was this gas doing to him? Clark slowly shifted Lex in his arms, easing Lex to one side, hating the way his body dragged, the way his unresponsive hand caught on Clark's clothes. The gun was gone, probably dropped when Lex was trying to save Clark.

A tear slipped down Clark's cheek and he fought the urge to sob, to gulp in air. Why did their last words have to have been about Clark's mistrust again? Why couldn't Clark just believe in Lex as much as he loved him? The way Lex believed in Clark. The way his last thoughts had been for Clark, to protect Clark. Never again, Clark vowed. Never again would he doubt Lex. If Lex died, Clark would never forgive himself. He placed a hand on Lex's cheek and watched him breathe.

Footsteps on the metal catwalk signaled Tim coming closer. Clark listened and waited, not letting on that he was conscious, trying not to breathe while still looking relaxed.

"Lex was right," Tim mused. "Why a bullet and a messy death here? Kill them later, down by the overpass. A lover's quarrel, I think. I'll have to get Leo's girl Sally as well. I wonder which of them killed which? A mystery and a scandal. Fitting for Lex Luthor."

The words filled Clark with relief. "Kill them later" indicated at least that the gas wouldn't do it on its own, that Lex would be okay. As long as they got through this.

Hands entered into Clark's view, reaching for Lex.

Clark erupted, uncoiling from his pretended slump on the floor and hitting Tim hard. They went rolling down the stairs together, Tim struggling to get to his gun and Clark fighting against the pain and weakness of the kryptonite.

This close to Tim, it was almost like being exposed to the rock. Clark gasped with the pain and then remembered why he'd been trying not to do that. Kryptonite gas in his lungs, burning, sapping his strength, his powers... Clark slumped and Tim hit him hard in the chest then pulled out the gun.

Clark couldn't let Lex be hurt. Pain be damned. Memories of the morning in bed flashed through Clark's mind. The way Lex had looked, lazy in pleasure, intent on giving to Clark, the gentle laugh and smiles as they'd joked.

With a sudden lunge, Clark knocked the gun out of Tim's hand and they crashed into one of the tables. Glass broke around them and equipment fell.

"Why won't you...?" Tim stopped his words and instead more gas came out his mouth, glowing an even brighter green.

Clark couldn't help the moan as the gas surrounded him, but he bit back the reflex to breathe in again. He couldn't. He wouldn't. Lex was relying on him.

Tim hit him with a beaker from the table and Clark went down, blood trickling over his skin where he'd been cut.

This wasn't going to work. It had to work. Clark rolled out of the way of another strike and scissored his legs, dropping Tim to the ground as well.

The gas was thinner down here on the floor. Enheartened, Clark wrestled with Tim, trying to get the upper hand. Instead, Tim got Clark into a lock and bent his arm back.

Involuntarily, Clark yelped, breathing in again and making the pain even worse. He could hold his breath indefinitely under water. He had even flown up where the atmosphere thinned to unbreathability. Clark didn't need to breathe. Holding his breath while fighting, though, seemed to be beyond his capacity. Silently cursing himself, Clark made a new resolution, clamping his jaws tightly shut and pushing the pain away.

A foot in his ribs almost knocked the air out again. Clark found himself lying on his back, looking up at the ceiling and wondering how he got there.

Tim kicked Clark again, savagely. Then he walked over to get his gun. "I don't know why you're not unconscious, and the jealous lovers would have been a nice scenario, but who cares? This works just as well."

Up on the ceiling was the automatic fire sprinkler. Clark had a sudden vision of Metropolis the day after a summer storm, fresh and clear with all the smog having been washed out of the skies. The sprinklers would wash the gas away, and he could get his powers back. If he couldn't use his powers, though, how could he activate the sprinklers?

College had been useful in more than one way. Clark rolled out of the way as a bullet dug into the floor where he'd been lying. He used the momentum to propel himself further and to get up at the end of the roll near the sink. With a heave, Clark threw a pan of soapy water in the direction of the fire alarm on the wall, praying that this would work.

To his great relief, alarms started ringing, the sensors having been disrupted by the water just as surely as if they'd been blocked by smoke. The fire sprinklers opened up and dirty water sprayed out.

Tim screamed, a high-pitched wail of fear and distress.

Clark whirled around, wondering what new danger there was.

Instead of a new danger, Clark saw only Tim being washed with the sprinkler water the same as Clark. But unlike Clark, Tim's hands were up, covering his face. It almost looked like he was trying to protect himself from the water.

It was water, wasn't it? Clark's heart beat faster and he sped over to Lex, his powers coming back as the gas was concentrated down to the floor.

Lex was okay. Damp, and still unconscious, but the water didn't seem to be hurting him. Still breathing.

Clark breathed himself, delighting in the moist clean air entering his lungs. Then he turned to Tim, who was still screaming.

Tim was... Clark gulped, sickened. Bits of his flesh were slipping, folding into themselves and sliding down. Any exposed area, his hands, his arms, his face... Tim was melting. That was the only way to describe it. With the water raining down on him, Tim was melting away.

"Oh, gross..." Clark had seen a lot of meteor-related deaths, too many, but this was one of the worst. It was as if Tim and the gas he exhaled had merged, and as the gas was mutable, so was Tim's flesh.

The screams had stopped, but Tim's mouth was still open. The lips had slid off already and the nose was dripping over it. Tim's body collapsed onto the floor.

Even though he wanted to turn away, Clark continued to watch while Tim dissolved, his bones holding together longer but in the end also melting, leaving only the clothes behind. Another victim of Clark's arrival on Earth, the meteors that had spawned him birthing monsters and destroying humans. Clark's fault.

Clark held Lex's limp body and wished he'd never been born.

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Lex slowly came awake, his head muzzy, his body safe. How did he know he was safe? Lex forced his eyes to open and saw Clark's face. Those were Clark's arms around him, and Clark's body close to his. That's how he knew he was safe, he was with Clark.

"Hey." Clark smiled down at Lex.

Reflexively, Lex smiled back. Just as he'd done a hundred times before. Knocked unconscious in a fight, wakening to Clark's arms around him. Clark's green eyes searching his own, making sure he was okay. Lex was safe with Clark. He always had been.

It might have been Lex's imagination, but Clark looked pale. Pale and slightly green.

Suddenly remembering everything that had just happened, Lex sat up, struggling out of Clark's arms and putting a hand to Clark's face. Clark was damp and clammy, and... Lex glanced at Clark's hair, wet and plastered to his head, and became aware of his own damp clothes.

"Are you okay?" Lex asked as he tried to figure out what was wrong with Clark, his eyes darting around to gather information.

"Shouldn't I be asking you that?" Clark chuckled, but there was a strain in his voice, no matter how tenderly he reached to gather Lex in again.

Lex allowed the gather, but kept looking. He saw a pile of clothes drifting on water... it looked like there had been a small flood and this underground lab had no drains, all the water just collecting. Green water.

Narrowing his eyes, Lex stared at the water, remembered the gas, and glanced back to Clark.

"I'm glad you're okay," Clark said woozily, his hold turning into a hug. He kissed Lex tenderly, his worry evident in the way he reassured himself through the kiss. His weakness evident as well.

Lex let the kiss continue to its natural finish, but then he pulled away from any further ones. "Come on." Lex stood and pulled Clark to his feet, the larger man wobbling as he gripped the rail for balance.

"We have to get you out of here." Lex guided Clark down the stairs, wincing in sympathy as Clark stepped into the green water and cried out. "Just to the elevator, just a little more." He coaxed Clark on, holding him up and trying not to wonder too hard about Tim's empty clothes in the water.

They made it to the elevator at last, and Lex hit the button for the ground floor with savage strength. Then he sank to the floor beside Clark and untied his shoes. "You've got kryptonite water soaked into everything. Let's get you out of these."

"Better than in my lungs," Clark quipped, then coughed.

Lex repressed his instinct to say, "I told you to hold your breath," and instead bit his lip as he peeled Clark out of his shoes. The elevator had reached the top by the time he was done with that, and they moved out into the corridor, Clark already looking better just from being out of the lab.

"Are you going to strip me in the hallway?" Clark asked, obviously amused at the prospect.

Lex glowered at him. "You have to get out of those clothes!" He realized he was just as soaked. "Me too."

"Sounds good," Clark purred, his large hand cupping the back of Lex's head and drawing him in.

With a sigh, Lex let it happen. Obviously Clark wanted reassurance more than he needed to be free of the residual kryptonite. Lex hated being out of the action. He wished he'd been there with Clark, through whatever had happened. Clark's need for reassurance afterwards, though, was familiar from the years before. The kisses weren't. The kisses were new, but perhaps they should have been there earlier too, along with the hot chocolate and hugs and gentle discussions while Clark's eyes never left Lex and rested on every bruise that Lex had obtained. The way Clark stayed so close to Lex until his parents made him come home again.

Well, maybe that was why there hadn't been kisses back then.

The clothes started to drop to the floor for reasons other than removing the kryptonite, and Lex struggled to remember they were in a hallway. Admittedly in a place that was supposed to be closed for the day, but still, in a hallway.

"Honestly!"

Lex and Clark jerked apart. They turned to see Lois standing there, her hands on her hips, her eyebrows raised.

Hallway. Lex sighed and he heard it echoed by Clark beside him. Without looking over, Lex found Clark's hand and held it within his, feeling the return pressure gratefully.

"Story all done?" Lex asked archly.

"One part of it. There's still another to be written." Lois eyed their wet clothing and looked them up and down. "I don't, however, work for the gossip column."

"The fire sprinkler went off downstairs," Clark explained, redness creeping up his face.

"Did you find Tim Matthews?" Lois asked, her gaze now tracking the drips to the elevator.

"Um," Clark hesitated. "He... uh, he..."

"He was a meteor mutant," Lex broke in, glancing at Clark. "The reason we didn't find a laboratory for gas mixtures was because that was his mutation, he breathed it."

"Obviously not all the time," Lois said, walking towards the elevator door.

"No," Lex agreed. He hesitated over what to tell her next, then gave a mental shrug. "When we fought, he had a bad reaction to my gun—"

"Lex!" Clark broke in, exasperated.

Lex grimaced. It would have been a logical explanation that Lois would have accepted.

"Why do you always have to take things on yourself to protect others, even when they don't need it?" Clark wrapped his arms around Lex and pulled him to his chest. "Tim melted."

"Melted?"

Lex was glad his head was currently slightly buried, so he didn't echo Lois's exclamation.

"The fire sprinklers went off in the fight, and... he melted." The horror in Clark's voice was real enough to convince both of them.

"Why does involvement with kryptonite mean really messy results and things nobody will believe in print?"

Lex pulled back from Clark in time to see the grimace and disgust on Lois' face, the same that had been in her voice. Her attention turned quickly, though, from Tim's fatal ending to Lex.

"Always takes things upon himself?" Her interrogation gaze went from Lex to Clark. "Explain."

Lex sighed and took another step away. Clark shot him a look, though, and Lex didn't retreat further. He wasn't sure if the look had been commanding or pleading, it had been given and received so quickly, but either way, it stopped Lex where he was.

"Amanda," Clark said quietly.

Lex blinked in surprise. "You remember her?"

"Of course," Clark eyes were full of sympathy.

Lex would have thought that if Clark had remembered anybody from that incident, it would have been Jude. Not-Jude. He looked away, not wanting to see sympathy, remembering the pain of that moment, though it had been so long ago. Longer, even, than them.

"Julian," Clark said then, and Lex flinched. From one bad memory to another.

"Tell me," Lois commanded, not without softness but with certitude. The factor that made her a good reporter.

And Clark did. Not the details, thank goodness, but enough of the broad outlines that Lex still cringed. The Club Zero mess. Lex taking the blame for the shot instead of Amanda. Clark didn't tell, but Lex still remembered with bitterness the failure of that part, how he'd left her even more alone until she'd taken her life. He'd loved her and failed her. Story of his life.

Then Clark told about Julian. Lex turned physically away, not wanting to see either one of their faces while Clark recounted that.

There was a little silence after Clark was done, but only enough for thoughts. Lois was too good of a reporter to let it continue. "Why do you believe him?"

Clark sputtered, and Lex turned back around, raising an eyebrow in surprise.

Lois calmly stood her ground. "If the official tales tell one thing, then how do you know that Lex really did what he said he did, that it wasn't him originally for either?"

"He didn't!" Clark defended Lex with sharp, reflexive instinct.

Blind trust. Lex smiled bitterly.

Clark also seemed to realize it, and he gave Lex a stricken look before firming himself. He started to say something, probably a version of the "I trust him" that Lex had heard so often when they were young, however Clark cut himself off. More thoughtfully, he studied Lex, looking for the reason behind the trust.

Lex didn't see how Clark was going to come out of this one. It could very well have gone the other way, Lex lying to make himself look better in Clark's eyes, not really the one to blame, and yet he was.

"Nixon," Clark finally said.

For the life of him, Lex couldn't see how that related. Unless Clark was still kryptonite sick and just blurting any random thing out. He still had his clothes on, and the kryptonite was still in the wetness. Clark was looking a little pale, though not as bad as earlier.

"When you shot Nixon—"

Lois made an inquiring noise that stopped Clark in his tracks.

"Nixon was this really nosy reporter... ah..." Clark seemed to suddenly realize the irony in what he and Lois now did for a living. Lex quirked his lips as he watched the play of emotions over Clark's face as he obviously tried to reconcile the two and then gave up. Clark determinedly continued, "He was an obsessed reporter—"

"That's not much better," Lex murmured, sotto voce.

Clark glared at him. "He was an insane reporter! Who trapped my dad in with him during a hurricane and when I got to them afterwards, he was going to kill us – he was striking at my dad with a... uh, well, something sharp and nasty, when Lex showed up and shot him, saving my dad."

"Convenient timing," Lois said, skepticism clear in her voice.

It had been. Lex still couldn't believe himself how close it had been. If it hadn't been so close, maybe he would have had another option. He shrugged.

Clark also shrugged, nearly at the same time as Lex, so it couldn't have been in response; they just both had the same thought. "It was," Clark said simply. "And it was..." he paused for words and then gave up on them. "Anyhow, Nixon died."

"And this is supposed to help me believe Lex didn't kill anyone earlier?" Lois baited.

Lex narrowed his eyes, hearing something else in her voice. She was playing a game. He wasn't sure what game it was right now, but she wasn't after the obvious. What was the point of those questions now, while they were in the hall and dripping wet? And why question Clark and not Lex?

"Afterwards, when we were heading home, Lex threw up."

Oh, thank you, Clark, for bringing that up, Lex thought sourly. So much for his suave image.

"He was pale and shivering, sick and in shock. Dad took care of him. Lex said... Lex said it was the first time he'd killed anybody."

Lex honestly didn't remember telling them that. He did, however, remember being sick and how embarrassing it had been to be taken care of.

"We believed him. My dad and I, and if you knew my dad, that wasn't an easy thing." Clark's face was set and grim. Lex suspected that instead of his dad, Clark was remembering his own first kill. With all the mutants around Smallville, that could have been at any point, but Lex was willing to bet Clark hadn't taken it any better. At least Lex had seen death before, even if he hadn't caused it directly.

Lois nodded, a slight grin tugging at her lips. "So Lex didn't kill Jude, since that would have been prior. Plus, autopsy reports show it was Lillian who killed Julian, not Lex."

Lex and Clark both jerked and turned to her, identical expressions of surprise. Lex quickly masked his own, his mouth tightening as he realized what game she'd been up to. She was checking on Clark's reasons, not the actual incidents. Playing Lex's same game, but for what reason?

"What autopsy reports?" Lex had to ask in spite of his not wanting to feed Lois any more lines. He'd never heard of any done on Julian. He'd even looked, though that had been years ago.

"Sealed and buried and just about vanished, but still there if one is persistent enough." Lois shrugged. "I was looking for something on Luthor. Lionel, that is. Found some interesting things, but not enough to use right now."

"Then what the fuck was that?" Clark balled up his fists and took a step towards Lois, hovering slightly in front of Lex in a protective stance.

Lex wondered just what Clark was reacting to. At the least, he'd figured out Lois had an ulterior motive.

Lois shrugged, not at all concerned, her eyes flicking to Lex behind Clark. "I wanted to know why you trust him."

A reluctant grin forced its way to Lex's lips. Lois was apparently familiar with Clark's knee-jerk response of trusting without reason. Sometimes rightfully so, and sometimes... less so. His distrusts as well. Instinct was all fine and good, but... "I'm not that person anymore."

Clark turned back to him, leaving Lois behind, his attention now one hundred percent on Lex. "I'm sorry, Lex."

Lex wasn't sure what Clark was apologizing for now.

"I'd forgotten. I'd loved you and trusted you, and it wasn't all blind, but it was rooted in knowing you, the you that you didn't show others. I lost sight of that, with the lies and the favors and Lana and Chloe and your dad. I didn't ask. I assumed, and I demanded, but I never asked, and I'd forgotten you." Clark shook where he was standing, his body drawn tightly in and his fists clenched. "I did have reason to trust you. It wasn't blind, and yet I forgot all that we had been before. I trusted you then, like I should trust you now. With reason." Clark drew in another breath. "I'm sorry."

Lex drew a shaky breath in, trying to control his trembling emotions. The apology was nothing more than Clark had said earlier, but this time there was more behind it, something solid and real, like there hadn’t been before. Clark had meant it before, but now he believed it as well. Lex couldn't stand the hope.

"Forgive me, Lex, please. I'm sorry."

Lex closed his eyes, remembering waking up in Clark's arms, remembering all the times he'd done the same in Smallville. Maybe this time he could finally let himself dream. It hurt, still. The years of remembering Clark's anger. Seeing it again so recently. Not knowing if he'd done enough yet to gain Clark's trust again. Not knowing if he could trust Clark again. Trust Clark with his life and his secrets, yes, but his heart... Oh, who was he kidding? That was already given as well. He might was well just face it and go on. "Yes."

Then Lex was being kissed again, audience be damned, and Lex could care less. He was in Clark's arms, and this was where he belonged.

... ... ...
... ... ...

Two days later, Clark finally tore himself away from Lex one more time and got in the car with Lois. They drove away with Lex standing in his driveway watching after them. The factory still had work to do, even more now that the Plant Engineering Head was missing, and Lex was awaiting his new director who would take over for him. Clark and Lois' job, however, was done.

They had turned in their story, it had run in the Daily Planet and had been picked up by the Associated Press. Lionel Luthor had egg on his face, smeared through the words of the report. They'd tried to leave Lex mostly out of it, primarily because of that internet video that was still picking up hits and being watched. Questions of favoritism would come up, and Clark's journalistic objectivity. Lionel had his own ammunition to fight any legal charges they could bring up now, and so it was back to Metropolis for their next story against him.

Despite the problems it was causing the paper, Clark couldn't regret his actions after the incident at the bar. He could wish people hadn't seen and videoed it, but as for loving Lex... it had no rhyme, no reason to it at that point, just raw desire and need. That had opened the door to more, though, and Clark could never ever regret that. The more was worth all the rest.

He sank down in the seat and sighed, longing to be back there even now, with Lex. Holding him, touching him, kissing him. Talking to him and listening to the answers. Being honest and thoughtful with each other. Having more sex.

"You can rent your own car if you're going to be doing that the whole way back."

With a blush, Clark straightened up and tried to pretend he hadn't just been thinking that. Lois' snort and sideways glance told him he hadn't been too successful, but the blush was fading.

"What do you think of Lex?" Clark asked. He hadn't asked before. He'd been trying too hard to spend every waking, and non-waking, moment with Lex that he could before they left, and had left Lois for later. He took care of his side of the business, but had also been aware of what was coming up, parting from Lex for a time.

He was going to be a rather distracted superhero for awhile, Clark feared.

Lois was silent for awhile, nominally concentrating on her driving. "I'm going to wait and see. I don't know him, not like you do, and while his history is not his dad's... he's still up to something. You trust him. I... don't distrust him, but neither will I take him for granted yet." She quirked a grin. "One of us has to stay objective."

Clark acknowledged the truth in that. "He's going to oppose his father." As he had the first time Lex had told him, Clark shuddered again, thinking of it.

"That will be dangerous, for all of us." Lois tapped the steering wheel with her fingers, not letting it out of her control. "But somebody has to. Lex... might be the best one to do it. We had just better hope he doesn't turn out worse than Luthor."

It could have happened. When Lex was intent on a goal, he crossed lines, believing in the end result more than the means. Clark knew that, yet he also knew that Lex didn't want to cross the lines, and if there was somebody he could count on to help him... "The difference is, I love him." And perhaps more importantly, "He loves me."

It would be enough. It had to be. Clark believed it this time, like he hadn't known to before. He believed in Lex, he believed in their love, and this time, it would work.

---

END


[Poll #1855852]

Comments

[ctbn60.livejournal.com]

Wonderful story I really enjoyed it!

[fruitbat00.livejournal.com]

Loved the ending. Nice action in the lab. Clark putting his foot in it again automatically accusing Lex.
Lex instinctive action to save Clark, I loved that whole bit. Clark's worry over Lex, the guilt at his last words.

I'm melting, I'm melting...errr sorry I couldn't resist..*snicker*

Tim breathed out the kryptonite VERY nice touch and so unexpected.

Loved the boys getting caught snogging in the hallway. Lois was excellent baiting Clark to get him to think. And think he did :) And god I loved his apology. Because he damn well owed Lex one. *stupid CW writers...*

And Lex trying to take the blame for things again...

Lex's thoughts as he wakes in Clark's arms, then later when Clark is holding him after the apology were awesome. Even if he is still scared of getting hurt again he cant stop loving/needing Clark.


Did I mention that I loved the fact that Clark cant keep his hands off Lex...

Great story.

Fixing Things, part 5

[seagull2eagle.livejournal.com]

So happy that you liked it! Thank you for commenting all the way through, and I hope you're resting your eyes. I really appreciate it. :)

Fixing Things, part 5

[seagull2eagle.livejournal.com]

When I was first thinking up the story, the action was supposed to be one of the main parts. LOL, though, the boys thought too much through the story and it became much more reflective than I'd planned. Still, though, one can't take them from enemies to together in a single story without some way of getting there! The action bit is still my favorite, though. ^^

Darn witches, ruining melting for all of us in the future! ;p Yeah, I thought about it, but it's a perfectly valid mutant death, and goes with Smallville's traditional unbelievable ones. ;D And weird mutant powers too!

Hee, I almost let them get a bit further with the snogging... but the sex was the previous chapter. ;p They'll get back to it later that night, in a room, without Lois.

**totally agrees about CW writers** ... ***totally*** {{shakes head}} Well, we'll just fix it. ^^

I can imagine that in the series, Lex woke up in Clark's arms a LOT. All those times he got knocked unconscious, Clark took care of the mutant, then the show faded to the next scene... but Clark wasn't going to leave Lex lying there. So many times, and now there are kisses too. :) And roving hands, and a future to come!

ROTFL. Both my betas warned me that people would want sequels to it. ;p None planned, sorry. I've got enough on the plate with the other things planned! ^_^ But thank you! :)

[moniklaa.livejournal.com]

Or definitely amazing!

[twilighthdfan.livejournal.com]

Absolutely loved this, especially the ending. I love how much the boys had both grown and grew in this. And Clark's apology ... if Lex hadn't forgiven him after that, I don't think he ever could have (because that was a darn good one).

Brilliant!

[seagull2eagle.livejournal.com]

Thank you! Sorry I missed the comment for so long. But I'm really glad you enjoyed. :)

Making Plans

[seagull2eagle.livejournal.com]

Glad you liked it! :) Heh, yeah, Clark learns. It might have taken him awhile, but he did learn. Lex's bright enough to see that. They've got an interesting future ahead now!